Artificial intelligence (AI) technology can help us fight climate change—but it also comes at a cost to the planet. To truly benefit from the technology's climate solutions, we also need a better understanding of AI's growing ...

Renewable energy has become competitive—and one often-overlooked reason is the reduced cost of financing. Researchers from ETH Zurich and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have modeled different scenarios ...

Over the past two centuries, millions of dedicated people—revolutionaries, activists, politicians, and theorists—have been unable to curb the disastrous and increasingly globalized trajectory of economic polarization ...

Global investment in new renewable energy capacity this decade—2010 to 2019 inclusive—is on course to hit USD 2.6 trillion, with more gigawatts of solar power capacity installed than any other generation technology, according ...

Europe has enough solar and wind resources to meet its electricity demand entirely from renewable sources. A new study by researchers at the Institute for Transformative Sustainability Research (IASS) in Potsdam shows that ...

The main solution to climate change is well known—stop burning fossil fuels. How to do this is more complicated, but as a scholar who does energy modeling, I and others see the outlines of a post-fossil-fuel future: We ...

Energy use in buildings—from heating and cooling your home to keeping the lights on in the office—is responsible for over one-third of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States. Slashing building CO2 emissions ...

The United States could produce enough energy each year by harnessing waste—from landfill refuse to cow manure—to power the states of Oregon and Washington, all while cutting the equivalent of 37 million cars' worth of ...

Drive through nearly any corner of America long enough and giant solar farms or rows of wind turbines come into view, all with the goal of increasing the country's renewable energy use and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is located in the western part of the Indochinese Peninsula and has a number of peculiar economic features. Green energy accounts for a considerable share of the country's energy balance. ...

A study released today provides the most complete list yet of the advantages of solar energy—from carbon sequestration to improvements for pollinator habitat. The paper offers a new framework for analyzing solar projects ...

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced an ambitious energy storage project to develop what it claims will be the world's largest energy storage project of its kind, in Utah. Renewable hydrogen is at the core.

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy generated from natural resources—such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat—which are renewable (naturally replenished). In 2006, about 18% of global final energy consumption came from renewables, with 13% coming from traditional biomass, such as wood-burning. Hydroelectricity was the next largest renewable source, providing 3% of global energy consumption and 15% of global electricity generation.

Wind power is growing at the rate of 30 percent annually, with a worldwide installed capacity of 121,000 megawatts (MW) in 2008, and is widely used in European countries and the United States. The annual manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached 6,900 MW in 2008, and photovoltaic (PV) power stations are popular in Germany and Spain. Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert. The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW. Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA. While most renewable energy projects and production is large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development. Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20–100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.

Some renewable energy technologies are criticised for being intermittent or unsightly, yet the renewable energy market continues to grow. Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. New government spending, regulation, and policies should help the industry weather the 2009 economic crisis better than many other sectors.

Your Privacy

This site uses cookies to assist with navigation, analyse your use of our services, and provide content from third parties.
By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Privacy Policy
and Terms of Use.